One way that Jeff and I save money is by making our own laundry detergent. To some this may sound extreme, but Jeff and I believe that everything we have belongs to God and we are just borrowers of it while we are here on Earth. Therefore, we do our best to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with, and we live by the Dave Ramsey philosophy which is, "Live like no one else, so that later on you can live like no one else." We are very content with living the frugal life and I love money saving ideas. I found this recipe on the Duggar family website and thought I would give it a try. I was very impressed with the results and even more excited because it is very inexpensive. It costs only a little over $7.00 to make a five gallon bucket, which lasts us anywhere between 4-6 months. Another thing I love about making the detergent, is that there is enough borax and super washing soda to make up to about five buckets. The only item you have to purchase each time is the Fels-Naptha bar soap, which is only $0.97 at Wal-Mart. Here is the recipe:
4 cups hot tap water
1 bar Fels-Naptha Soap
1 cup Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda
1/2 cup Borax
Directions:
Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with hot water. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until dissolved.
Fill the 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water. Add the melted soap mixture, washing soda, and borax. Stir well until all is dissolved.
Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water.
Stir, cover, and let sit overnight.
Fill a used detergent dispenser 1/2 full with the mixture and 1/2 with hot tap water and shake.
Use about 5/8 cup per load.
I have thought about making my own detergent, but how good do your clothes smell because that is very important to me..haha. I need to be able to smell the detergent on my shirt when I pull it over my head. =)
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